By Junex Doronio

MANILA – Expressing hope that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s campaign promise in 2022 of a P20 per kilo of rice can still be realized, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has asked the Department of Agriculture (DA) to consider his subsidy-cum-contract-growing proposal.

Villafuerte, who is also president of the National Unity Party (NUP), proposed to the Marcos Jr. administration to provide a P40,000 subsidy per hectare for small farmers in the top 10 palay-producing provinces on condition that they would sell their palay to the government at P9 per kilo.

“This is an excellent solution because we will be providing needed production assistance to our palay growers that will stop them from seeking pre-planting loans from usurers or unscrupulous traders and then selling their produce to them at dirt cheap prices, while at the same time boosting our harvests and enabling rice consumers to buy the staple in retail markets at only P20 to P30 per kilo,” Villafuerte stressed.

The Camarines Sur lawmaker said he is also optimistic that the interactions between Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and the governors of the biggest palay-growing provinces will continue in a bid to dramatically boost the domestic supply and reduce the price of rice.

He noted that the program will cover a total of 1 million hectares of farmland, with an anticipated yield of 3 billion kilos of rice.

Villafuerte said 1.5 billion kilos of rice will be sold at P20 per kilo to low-income families through the Kadiwa outlets and the remaining half will be sold for P30 per kilo to other consumers.

(IAmigo/MNM)

By Junex Doronio

SOUNDS LIKE CAMARINES SUR REPRESENTATIVE LRay Villafuerte hit it on the nail when he proposed that the government should accelerate plans for the conduct of joint maritime patrols with the United States and other allies in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

The 55-year-old Bicolano lawmaker who’s also president of National Unity Party president (NUP) on Tuesday expressed confidence that the joint maritime patrol will “put an end to Beijing’s bullying” in the area.

“Beijing’s nonstop, increasingly dangerous and provocative incursions in breach of our national sovereignty and sovereign rights over the WPS must stop sooner than later,” Villafuerte stressed.

He noted that the latest collision and water cannon incidents off Ayungin Shoal only showed “a serious escalation of the illegal activities of China in Philippine territory in utter disregard of international law.”

It can be recalled that Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman for the WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela reported last week that 38 larger fleet vessels from China were spotted during a resupply mission for soldiers stationed in BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal last November 10.

“As the government fast-tracks our AFP modernization program to beef up our external defense in the long haul, what needs to be done right now is for our defense and security establishment to beef up our maritime protection through the quickest way possible, which is via joint sails— hopefully before the year is over—with the US and other like-minded allies that want to preserve peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” Villafuerte pressed.

(ai/mnm)